I first came to baby massage when my child Hamish was born - I was already professionally qualified in adult massage, and working as a massage therapist ... Given a gorgeous new baby I simply couldn't keep my hands off him. A few days after his birth he received has first 'proper' i.e. full body, naked massage in front of the fire, lying on a soft, warm towel, using warm (sunflower) oil. I watched in awe as he stretched his limbs, clearly enjoying his, experience. By the time I had finished stroking, he had fallen asleep, completely uncurled and stretched out on his back, evidently relaxed and feeling safe in his strange, new, airy world 'I treasure that memory. ..And so began a ritual which continued almost daily for the first six months of his life. Hamish loved it - and so did I. A break from the chores associated with small babies, washing, changing my milky bed, changing the baby, feeding myself.. an opportunity to focus entirely on my beautiful baby - on each other.
And meanwhile, we began to reap the physical and emotional benefits, of regular massage, including
Hamish is now a confident, relaxed 5 year old with and extraordinary recognition of his own body's needs and capabilities, and an ability to use physical expression in a deliberate way to shift himself emotionally when he wants to: "I feel grumpy .. I know I'll stamp all the way down the road.." Of course I can't know I how he would have been without the massage but our relationship is very strong and I see the massage as a gift to both of us. I still massage him and he now massages me too (and walks on my back, which saves on the chiropractor's bills!)
I now have two toddlers for whom massage has always been important ... I wouldn't have missed this way of enjoying my relationship with my children for anything.
Massage can also be helpful where babies (or parents) are particularly fretful or nervous; where they suffer from colic or constipation, are sleepless, or have suffered birth trauma. Mothers who massage their babies are less likely to suffer post-natal depression. Mothers with post-natal depression who start massaging their babies recover more quickly.
To learn to massage your baby will take perhaps half a day. To massage a baby takes twenty minutes ... twenty minutes when you want to massage. Why baby massage? Why on earth not? Baby massage is a normal part of baby care in much of the world. As a parent I know that having regular massage myself has also contributed to my experience of parenting. When I look after myself I am better able to see and meet the needs of my children. I look forward to the day when massage for babies , for children and for adults is an 'ordinary' part of all of our lives.